. >> i live in the south, ground zero for the nra but further to the right of gun owners of america. it's a part of our culture. i was raised in a household with guns. my mother later on when she was a widow, had guns. my father was my first hero. and i describe in the piece, i think, for the first time publicly, how he was murdered. and it was not an ak-47. it was not a bushmaster. it was a 22, four bullets to the head. 20 years later, my brother krystofer, we're just a few months apart in age, he was murdered in a remarkably similar fashion. both of them were gun owners. neither of them had an opportunity to defend themselves. they were ambushed. so as a growing person and joining the marine corp, we were taught, everything about weaponry there is. i left the marine corp and have owned a gun nearly every day since. one, because i was a single mother. and with small children in a home and just me and not living in the most desirable neighborhood, i slept near the front door. i was raised in east st. louis and sleeping near the front door was a thank you did. so i did that with a gun